Second Chance
by Saralea
Summary: Another L/J fic from me. For once, it's not a series.


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This is a story that shows you what happens to my brain when I'm more than an hour left with GOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYY! 

Sorry, forget about the last line, I just had to express my joy at the 2:0 of my favourite soccer team. Actually, it's the only soccer team I like at all. Anyway, I'll just start once again.

This is a story that shows you what happens to my brain when I'm more than an hour left with my little brother. I wrote it while he was playing with his toy train... Personally, I think that it's pretty bad, maybe the worst I've written so far, but as I already wrote it, I thought that I could as well post it, even though it might ruin my reputation. And no, I don't know which reputation I'm talking about, thanks for asking. *g*

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Second Chance

"..., and so he blew up his cauldron, covering most of the Slytherins and also some Gryffindors - only two, luckily - with this Shrinking Solution. For half an hour, the whole Seventh Years of Slytherin had disappeared. Heaven!"

Lily Evans and her momentary boyfriend, Jason Patterson, erupted into laughter. Behind them, Jason's best friend Sam Wilkins grinned broadly then spotted a nearly empty table and grabbed the still snickering couple, directing them over to it.

"Mind if we sit here?" Lily pointed at the three empty chairs, then looked up at the boy who was already seated there, slurping a butterbeer and his messy black hair falling into his deep brown eyes. "James!"

"Hi Lily." He glanced at her two companions.

"Oh, you don't know each other, do you? James, that's Jason, and that's his friend Sam."

Jason grinned and pulled out a chair. "I already heard about you, though Sam and I graduated three years ago. You're current Head boy, together with my Flower, aren't you? Gryffindor's Quidditch captain, and, most of all, one of the infamous four Marauders."

James nodded shortly and took a look at his watch.

Lily smirked. "We're friends since our first year, and he was in detention just about three times a week."

She didn't notice the pained look that crossed his face, but was startled when he suddenly jumped up, causing the chair to fall over with a thump, and choking out a slightly muffled "Gotta go, the others are waiting for me at Zonko's." before hurrying out of the pub.

For a moment, Lily sat quietly, just staring after his retreating back, and then she got to her feet. "There's something wrong, I'll go after him. I'll be right back, okay? Order a butterbeer for me, please!"

She didn't let the two boys any time to answer before she quickly crossed the room, then took a deep breath and stepped out into the chilly November air. The figure of the black-haired boy was a hundred feet away when she discovered him, his head bent against the cold wind, his cloak wrapped tightly around him.

"James!" She wasn't sure if he had heard her, however, he just continued walking, not turning around.

"_James_!" she tried once again, but still, no reaction at all.

Lily shuddered, snuggling into her coat, then, after an instant of considering her possibilities, she ran to catch up with him. Gently grabbing his arm, she stopped him, and he slowly turned around, looking strangely grave, not at all like his normal mischievous and teasing self.

"Ja? Are you all right?"

He forced a laugh, avoiding her eyes. " I'm fine."

"Yeah, sure." she said sarcastically. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"James, whatever it is, you know that you can tell me. I'm your friend."

"Oh, really? That's new." James smiled ironically, then turned around to resume his walk, but he found out that it was impossible unless he wanted to shake Lily's arm off, so he faced her once again.

She looked stunned, staring at him helplessly. "What... Why are you mad at me?"

He laughed, but it sounded hollow and not cheerful at all. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"What, James?"

"Did you even _notice_ that I avoided you for the whole last month? That we didn't have anything you really could call a conversation for at least seven weeks? Is that what you call a friendship?"

"I..."

"You didn't notice, I knew it."

"Why... Why did you avoid me?"

James shook his head, furious and sad at the same time. "Are you really so blind? How can you be on top of every class and be so dumb at the same time?"

"What are you talking about?" Lily looked at him, her whole body showing confusion.

"You're so blind, Lily." he whispered once again. "Have you ever seen me gazing at you during classes? Have you ever noticed that I'm speechless in front of you? That I pass out whenever you just give me one of your smiles? That I lose control everytime we meet? And don't tell me that you did, because I know that it's a lie."

"James, I..."

"You don't know what I'm feeling when I see you once again with another boyfriend. How I wish that it would be me, although I know that you'd dump me a few days later."

"James..."

"You don't have the faintest idea how it feels to be in love, Lily."

Lily just stood there, wordlessly staring at the boy she had always been thinking of as one of her best male friends, not knowing what to say or do.

"Leave me alone, Lily, please."

With a sudden move, James turned around, jerked his arm out of her grasp and hurried down the hill, towards Zonko's Joke Shop, leaving Lily standing in the main street of Hogsmeade. She was oblivious to the looks she was given by the passing boys, oblivious to the icy wind, oblivious to everything around her.

***

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(A/N: No, 2:1! Sorry, on with the story, but be warned: Probably, the ending of the match will decide how good or bad my mood is. And this will certainly have some influence on this story...)

"This prank was great! All the Slytherins with scarlet skin and golden hair!" Lily sat down in front of James at breakfast the next morning, flashing him one of her famous smiles, but he hardly glanced up.

Slightly discouraged by his reaction, but not willing to give up already, she leaned forwards, laying her hand on his. "Whose idea was it?"

He flinched and quickly brought his hand out of her reach, dropping his fork in the process. Gritting his teeth, James forced himself to ignore the hurt in her eyes and stood up. He didn't expect her to follow him out of the Great Hall without breakfast, but that's exactly what she did. 

James whirled around, staring her straight in the eyes. "What do you want, Lily? Aren't you satisfied with what you already did to me?"

"I..." She gulped, then started once again, her eyes getting moist, although he didn't notice it as he was concentrating hard in order not to show any emotion to her. 

"Can't we just be friends again?"

"Have we ever really been friends?" he asked her angrily. "Stop playing your games, Lily! I don't want to be another one of your heart-broken victims, so just leave me alone. Get lost!"

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(A/N 2:1! 2:1! The match's over!)

When he walked off this time, she didn't follow him.

Lily didn't notice Sirius catching up with her, not until he touched her shoulder and turned her around. "Leave him be, Lily. You can't imagine what you already did to him, and you'll only make it worse."

"You're acting as if James never played around!" she replied defiantly.

Sirius sighed. "Of course he did. But didn't you notice that he didn't have a girlfriend for the whole last year? That's because he was in love with you all the time."

"But I thought we were friends!" Her eyes began to fill with tears, and she bowed her head, letting her hair fall in her face in order to cover it up.

Judging by the way the tone of his voice changed from reproachful to gentle, he had seen them nevertheless. "Look, Lily. You can't go around breaking boy's hearts for the rest of your life. If you don't feel anything for James, then, for his sake, stay away from him."

"And if I do?" she asked, sniffing quietly.

"If you _do_ feel something for him, then you have to decide what to do on your own. All I'm asking from you is to be careful with his heart, okay?"

Lily nodded weakly, and with a last squeeze, Sirius went back to eat his breakfast while she slowly walked up to the Gryffindor tower.

***

It wasn't until her first lesson on Monday when Lily saw James again, and the time seemed unbelievable long for her. Isn't it strange how you never really notice a certain person, and then, all of a sudden, you get the feeling that you can't live without them any longer? That's what happened to Lily, and she just couldn't understand that she never even considered James as a possible boyfriend. Why not? He was fairly cute, smart, nice, funny, just about perfect, but still she had never thought of him in that way. And now, that she finally opened her eyes, it was probably too late anyway.

All through the lesson, she tried to catch his eye, but he was looking at everything except her, and somehow, she couldn't blame him. The moment she spotted him leaving the classroom right after the bell had rung, Lily called a hurried 'See you later' at her best friend and followed him. When she finally managed to reach him, she took his hand without a word and dragged him into an empty room, closing the door behind them, then turned around to look him straight in the eyes, taking a deep breath.

"James, please, hear me out. Give me only a minute, okay?" She didn't wait for his answer, knowing that she would lose her courage if she didn't speak right now. "First, I wanted to apologize to you: I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I was so blind. For my stupidity. And then, I just wanted to tell you that you were right: I don't know anything about love, James. I don't know how it feels to lose control, not to know what to say. But I wish I did. And, maybe... James, would you be the one to show me?"

The black-haired boy didn't answer, he just stared at her, mouth hanging open.

Lily looked down at the ground, feeling a tiny tear pricking in her eyes. "So you don't want to..." She glanced up, forcing her lips to curve into a weak smile before standing on tiptoe and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm sorry, James."

She turned on her heel and was about to leave the room when he grabbed her by the wrist, whirling her around. 

"Do you really mean what you just said?" His voice sounded oddly harsh, most unlike his usual one.

"Every word."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you really, truly sure? Because I'd die if you're not."

"I am completely sure, James. Absolutely."

"Good." His eyes sparkling, he bent down, causing their faces to be only half an inch apart. "So... If you're sure about this, then I am allowed to kiss you?"

She could only manage a weak nod before he tugged her as close as possible and caught her breath, pressing his lips against hers and making the both of them shake. As they broke apart, needing to breathe, he grinned shyly at her.

"Now, was this any help to make you understand the meaning of love?"

She exhaled, then smiled. "I'd say yes, James, but it seems as if I just don't know the right words to say."

"That's a good beginning." He smirked before claiming her lips again.

None of them noticed Sirius and Remus standing in the open door, a broad grin on both of their faces and a camera in their hands. And none of the four teenagers noticed Professor Dumbledore peering over Remus shoulder before resuming his way, a slight smile on his lips.

*****

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Oh my God. I can't believe that I actually wrote this. How pathetic can you get? Well, I definitely don't like this story, and you should know that I admire everyone who succeeded in reading it. And no, I'm not kidding; I really don't like it.

Disclaimer: The characters I abused belong to J. K. Rowling.

A last note: I have to thank all those wonderful, lovely people that offered to be my beta-reader! I really, really appreciate it, guys, and I hope that I sent a personal thank you to every one of you. If I did miss someone, then I'm awfully sorry, it wasn't intentional.

I would dedicate this story to Hermione Potter for the time and work she put into it, but I won't. Know why? 'Cause it's too bad. So I prefer dedicating the next part of 'I'd Love You To Hate Me' to you, Hermione.


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